Olsen Orekewa Filipaina (23 April 1957 – 10 February 2022) was a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who represented both

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. He played for the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

, and

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

during his New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) premiership career from 1980 to 1987.

Early life

Filipaina was born in

Kaikohe Kaikohe is the seat of the Far North District of New Zealand, situated on State Highway 12 about 260 km from Auckland. It is the largest inland town and highest community above sea level in the Northland Region. With a population of over ...

, New Zealand, on 23 April 1957. His mother was

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and his father was from

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. He was raised in

Māngere Māngere () or Mangere is one of the largest suburbs in Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau City Centre and 15 kilometres south of ...

, and started his career with the

Mangere East Hawks The Mangere East Hawks are a rugby league based in Mangere, New Zealand. The Hawks compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was formed in 1963, the first fourteen junior teams took the field in 1964.''The Haw ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition.

Playing career

While playing for the Hawks, Filipaina was named the best back in the competition in 1977, before winning the Rothville Trophy as player of the year the following season. Filipaina moved to Sydney in 1980, joining the

. He spent five seasons at the club, playing in 82 games and amassing 225 points. After a one-year spell at the

Eastern Suburbs Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen New S ...

in 1985, he played for two years with the

. During his time in the

NSWRL Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

, Filipaina claimed he suffered from racial abuse and sledging.Racism ruined career: NZ league great
''9 News'', 3 May 2006 He later captained Ryde-Eastwood to victory in the inaugural

Metropolitan Cup The Ron Massey Cup (formerly known as the Bundaberg Red Cup and Jim Beam Cup) is a semi-professional development level rugby league competition in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, run jointly by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and th ...

final in 1990.

Representative career

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

representative, Filipaina was part of the Auckland side that defeated

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

within the span of 20 days in 1977. Filipaina was first picked for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

in 1977, becoming the first junior player from the Hawks to be selected. In 1983 and again in 1985, he was picked for the Kiwis despite playing in the Sydney reserve grade competition. On both occasions, he played a pivotal role in the Kiwis defeating Australia. He was named the man of the series in 1985. He also made six appearances at the 1977 and 1985–1986 editions of the

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was ...

. He eventually retired from the Kiwis in 1987. In total, Filipaina played in 50 matches for New Zealand, including 28 tests where he scored 108 points. As of 2010, his 108 points places him sixth on the point scoring list. Filipaina subsequently changed his national representation to

, his father's country of origin. He captained the team in the 1988 Pacific Cup, as well as its inaugural test match that same year.

Later years

Filipaina remained in Sydney after his retirement, living in

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

. He worked the same garbage run the

helped him get when he first moved to Australia.Olsen the premier inspiration for picking Talau
''Sydney Morning Herald'', 22 July 2003 From this job he received the nickname “The Galloping Garbo” during his playing days. Filipaina was named one of

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

's "Legends of League" in 2007. His biography, ''The Big O: The Life and Times of Olsen Filipaina'', was published in April 2020 and recounted the racial abuse he endured throughout his career.

Personal life

Filipaina was the son of a Samoan boxer and a Maori mother. He was born in

, New Zealand. He has five children: Louise, John, Alysha, Quin and Jazmine, and five grandchildren: Tamati, Matahi, Ignatius, Kaimana and Octavia. Two of his brothers, Jerry and Alf, are involved in politics in Auckland. Filipaina's son, Quin, played in the

Harold Matthews Cup The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 16. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up o ...

side for the Tigers. Another son, John, was arrested in 2006 and charged with robbery. In mid-January 2022, Filipaina was admitted to

Westmead Hospital Westmead Hospital is a major tertiary hospital in Sydney, Australia. Opened on 10 November 1978, the 975-bed hospital forms part of the Western Sydney Local Health District, and is a teaching hospital of Sydney Medical School at the University of ...

with a stomach infection. His condition slowly deteriorated and he died of kidney failure on 10 February 2022, 72 days short of his 65th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filipaina, Olsen 1957 births 2022 deaths New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Auckland rugby league team players Mangere East Hawks players North Sydney Bears players Sydney Roosters players Balmain Tigers players Samoan rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Samoa national rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team captains People educated at Otahuhu College Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Northland Region Deaths from kidney failure Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Samoan expatriate rugby league players People from Kaikohe